KNITTING MACHINE FOR UNDERWEAR
At present fully one-third of the knit underwear used in this country is of the ribbed description. It is made in all the materials that the older flat goods are composed of, including silk, silk mixtures, linen, wool, lisle, and cotton. Rib work is ordinarily stronger and more lasting than plain. It is also invaluable for many purposes on account of its tendency to contract and expand in the direction of the circumference without altering its length. This feature makes it indispensable for tops to socks and wrist work for shirts, mittens, gloves, etc., and for the production of heavy garments such as cardigans and sweaters. The expense of knitting rib work is higher than plain knitting, owing to the fact that the machines cannot turn out so great a quantity within a given time.
The formation of the rib in knitted goods is unique in its principle. The effect is produced by reversing the stitch. In place of making the stitch work appear entirely upon one side of the fabric, as in plain work, the needles are so arranged that every alternate row, or two rows alternately, are reversed, thus making both sides alike. Plain work is done with a single bank of needles, while rib work requires two banks, the function of the second one being to pull and loop the yarn in an opposite direction, thus producing a thicker and more elastic web.
Double work in knitting consists merely in running two threads where one is commonly used. The work is done readily and with but little extra cost for labor. Coarser and heavier needles are required, also a wider gauge for the needle cylinder. Fancy effects in double work are produced by running two colors instead of one. The tendency is for one thread to twine about the other, thus making attractive double-and-twist work. Lumbermen’s socks and like goods are often knitted on this plan, though for the most part double work is for the heels, toes, and soles of ordinary hose.
Stripe Knitting. The process of striping knitted fabrics is accomplished automatically by a system of changing the yarns when delivered by the feeds. Circular machines knitting a tubular web cannot be utilized for this purpose, hence the work is done on fashioning or stocking frames. It has only been within recent years that makers of knitting machinery have been able to offer machines on which more than one kind of yarn could be knit at one time. There are now in use, however, machines that will readily knit several colors of yarn at the same time.
Knitting Cotton. A variety of loosely twisted, four-ply cotton yarn, dyed in various plain and mixed colors, employed for knitting hosiery, tidies, mats, etc., by hand. It is numbered from 8, coarse, to 20, fine, and commonly put up sixteen balls in a box, each box containing two pounds, manufacturer’s weight.
Knitting Silk. A loosely twisted silk thread of domestic manufacture employed for knitting mittens, stockings, and other articles by hand. It is also much used for crochet work. Knitting silk is put up in the form of balls, each containing one-half ounce of thread. It is made in but two sizes, No. 300, coarse, and No. 500, fine; each ball of the former number contains 150 yards of silk; of the latter 250 yards. No. 500 is manufactured only in white, cream, and black; the No. 300 is fast dyed in a great variety of colors.
Hosiery Manufacture. According to the particular method by which socks and stockings are made, of whatever kind, quality, or material, they are classed as cut goods, seamless, or full fashioned. Of the three methods of manufacturing the first named is the least expensive. Cut goods are made of round webbing knitted on what is called a circular knitting machine. The web has the appearance of a long roll of cloth about the width of a sock or stocking when pressed flat. The first operation consists in cutting off pieces the length of the stocking desired, these lengths, of course, being the same (unshaped) from end to end. The shaping of the leg is effected either by cutting out enough of the stocking from the calf to the heel to allow part to be sewn up and shaped to fit the ankle, or by shrinking. In the heeling room where the pieces next go, the cutters are furnished with gauges or patterns that indicate just where to make a slit for the insertion of the heel, generally of a different color. When the heel is sewn in, the stocking begins to assume its rightful shape. The toe is now put on and the stocking is practically finished. In the case of socks the final operation consists in attaching the ribbed top, which tends to draw the upper part of the leg together, thus causing it to assume a better shape. The final work includes scouring, dyeing, and shaping. The cost of making cut goods is less by a few cents per dozen than when knit seamless. While some very creditable hose are produced in this way, yet the existence of the heavy seam is an objection which confines them to the poorest class of trade. Cut goods are made in all sizes and kinds for men, women, and children.
Seamless hose are made on a specially constructed machine which produces the entire stocking, but leaves the toe piece to be joined together by a looping attachment. On half-hose the leg is made the same size down to the ankle, but on ladies’ hose the stocking is shaped somewhat in the machine. Seamless hose are not, strictly speaking, entirely seamless, inasmuch as all stockings made on a circular knitting machine must have a seam somewhere. There must be a beginning and an ending. In the case of the stocking the ending is at the toe, and the opening left can only be closed with a seam. In some mills this opening is automatically stitched together on special machines; in others, girls do it by hand with needle and thread. Neither by machine nor handwork can the opening be closed with exactly the same stitch as that made by the needles of the power knitter. However, the seam is of small proportions, and when the goods are scoured, pressed, and finished the presence of the seam is a minor item, as it neither incommodes the wearer nor mars the appearance of the stocking. Seamless goods are made in a great variety of qualities, ranging from cotton half-hose at fifty cents per dozen to the fine worsted stockings at $6.00 per dozen. A notable and very commendable feature of seamless hose is the socket-like shape of the heel, which fits that portion of the foot as though really fitted to it. As far as comfort and fit are concerned, the manufacture of seamless hosiery has now reached such a degree of perfection as to bring it second only to the full-fashioned variety.